The top 10 buyers of electoral bonds from April 2019 are now known, as the Election Commission released information on the bonds, which were provided by the State Bank of India, within hours of their submission.
- Future Gaming and Hotel Services Ltd. is ranked first on the list with electoral bonds valued at an astounding Rs 1,368 crore. The lottery is owned by Santiago Martin and has its main office in Coimbatore. Additionally, it is the only distributor of the paper lottery held in Nagaland and Sikkim. The EC data lists its bonds under the following names: Future Gaming and Hotel Services PR, Future Gaming and Hotel Services Pvt Ltd, and Future Gaming and Hotel Services Private Ltd. The Enforcement Directorate has been looking into the business and Martin. In a chargesheet submitted by the CBI in connection with a money laundering investigation, Martin was also listed. Amounts worth more than Rs 450 crore were frozen by the ED last year. In connection with an investigation into money laundering, the ED searched Martin’s son-in-law’s house just last week.
- Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd., a Hyderabad-based company that paid Rs 966 crore for electoral bonds. PP Reddy founded the Megha Group in 1986. According to reports, Telangana Chief Minister KCR is “close” to both Reddy and his nephew PV Krishna Reddy.
- Qwik Supply Chain Private Limited, which has its headquarters in Maharashtra and has donated Rs 410 crore in electoral bonds. Reliance Industries, owned by Mukesh Ambani, has a number of companies where one of its directors serves as a director.
- Businessman Anil Agarwal founded the mining behemoth Vedanta Limited, which is headquartered in Mumbai and ranks 4th on the list. Controversy surrounding the conglomerate is nothing new; it has previously involved debt claims as well as several disputes over its interference with environmental regulations. It declared the “demerger” of its companies last year.
- Haldia Energy Limited, which has invested Rs 375 crore in electoral bonds. Being a member of the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, CESC Ltd is the sole owner of the 1994-incorporated company. In order to “cater [to] the growing power demand of the city of Kolkata and its suburbs,” it runs a thermal power plant in Haldia, West Bengal.
- Essel Mining and Industries Ltd., which bought electoral bonds totaling Rs 224.5 crore, is ranked 6th on the list. As a member of the Aditya Birla Group, it is one of the biggest producers of noble ferro alloys and iron ore mining companies in the nation. The business had written to the Madhya Pradesh government in 2022, voicing worries about violent threats while attempting to carry out its mining project in the Buxwaha forest, which is located about 200 kilometers from Sanchi. An expert panel that was tasked with looking into mining violations in Odisha found the firm guilty of mining illegally in the state’s forest areas in 2014.
- The Megha group, which controls the seventh-ranked Western UP Power Transmission Company Ltd, has bought bonds totaling Rs 220 crore. The group has invested Rs 1,186 crore in electoral bonds, including Megha Engineering.
- Keventer Foodpark Infra Limited, which has invested Rs 195 crore in electoral bonds since 2019, comes in at number eight on the list. The company, which is based in Kolkata, processes food and exports pulp and agricultural goods.
- MKJ Enterprises Limited, a steel company with its headquarters in Kolkata. It bought Rs 180 crore in electoral bonds. Mahendra Kumar Jalan, who is also a director of a few Keventer companies, serves as its chairman and managing director.
- Madanlal Ltd., which bought bonds for Rs. 185.5 crore, is ranked 10th. The business is a member of the Keventer and MKJ groups of companies. The company works in the real estate industry and buys and sells securities.
Also Read: ECI files SC Motion to get Electoral Bonds Case’s sealed documents
EC released SBI’s data on electoral bonds in the form of two files: one file contained the names of “purchasers” of the bonds, and the other contained the names of the political parties that cashed the bonds.
